http://www.thingsithinkarecool.com Mon, 06 Feb 2012 00:38:56 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 http://www.thingsithinkarecool.com/self/blanket http://www.thingsithinkarecool.com/self/blanket#comments Thu, 26 Jan 2012 02:28:09 +0000 admin http://www.thingsithinkarecool.com/?p=2227

I like to listen to NPR when I drive. This afternoon on my way back home, I caught the tail end of “All Things Considered”. Robert Siegel was interviewing author Chris Raschka about his most recent work, “A Ball for Daisy”. “A Ball For Daisy” is a picture book about coping with loss that was inspired by Raschka’s son, who at the age of 4, lost his favorite ball. The author explained it was the first time his son had lost something he was very attached to, and he, as a father, was impacted by the experience and wanted to create a book that might help other children. This made me think about my own childhood and first loss experience. As I recall, the first loss that greatly affected me was when my mother took away my favorite blanket when I was around two or three years old. (I have a very good memory and remember several events from when I was as young as 2 years old). It was an old, tattered polyester quilt. The outside was silky white with blue flowers and the filling was something akin to cotton but more scratchy. I really shouldn’t have known what the stuffing was made of, but there were so many holes in the blanket it would have been impossible not to. I loved that blanket. It was so soft and comforting. I wasn’t like Linus from Charlie Brown. I didn’t drag it everywhere I went. But I definitely slept with it every night. One night, as I was going to bed, my blanket was missing. My mom told me she had given it to my great grandmother. When I cried, she soothed me by saying my great grandmother needed it to make a pillow for herself. It worked. My great grandmother was my favorite person in the world, and I remember being ok with the loss of my blanket if it helped her. The next time I visited my great grandmother she showed me the pillow case that contained my blanket. Truth is, I doubt it did. But at the time it gave me comfort. Ironically, the second major loss in my life was when my great grandmother died when I was 7. She was the person I loved most and her passing marked a pretty damn dreadful year for me. In case you’re wondering, the image to the left is a drawing of Michael Jackson’s son, Blanket, submitted to a website by a fan whose name I don’t know because it appears to be written in an Asian language. Seriously, what kind of person names their child Blanket?? Still, it seemed fitting since I was on the topic of blankets and loss.

]]> http://www.thingsithinkarecool.com/self/blanket/feed 0 http://www.thingsithinkarecool.com/self/diego-gravinese-wei-koh-and-coincidences http://www.thingsithinkarecool.com/self/diego-gravinese-wei-koh-and-coincidences#comments Thu, 16 Dec 2010 04:21:11 +0000 admin http://www.whyilovevermont.com/?p=2109

I was in New York a few weeks ago and went to the Greenwich Hotel to meet up with my friend, Wei, who was in town for a few days. Wei and I met in college and have remained friends ever since despite dating for three years, a breakup and distance (he now lives in Singapore). Anyway, while we were catching up, Wei mentioned how he’d just been to Argentina on business and had a meeting with an artist there he really likes, Diego Gravinese. At which point I got really excited, because I really like Diego Gravinese’s art a lot, too. So much so that I wrote about him in this blog in the spring. Cllick here to read my pithy blog post. Coincidences are a little magical. So are Diego Gravinese’s paintings. Gravinese was born in La Plata Argentina in 1971. He is a wonderfully talented photo-realistic painter, combining consummate skill, a unique perspective and a quirky sense of humor, to create paintings you wish you could visit. I especially like his work from the 2009-2010 and 2000-2001 time periods, some of which are featured to the left. I hope you like them, too.

]]> http://www.thingsithinkarecool.com/self/diego-gravinese-wei-koh-and-coincidences/feed 0 http://www.thingsithinkarecool.com/style/my-imusic-is-trying-to-kill-me http://www.thingsithinkarecool.com/style/my-imusic-is-trying-to-kill-me#comments Tue, 14 Dec 2010 23:38:09 +0000 admin http://www.whyilovevermont.com/?p=2060

I am packing up my apartment. I just started the process. It will probably take me more than a month. Not because I have so many things, but because I’ll do a little bit at a time. Better than putting it off until the last minute. I have way too much going on. Another trip to New York, a ski trip to Whistler, some parties, etc. I don’t want to deal with the stress of last minuteness. Going through the contents of drawers and cabinets is making me a little sad. Stirring up memories. Reminding me of people, events and feelings I’d forgotten. When I moved to Vermont I came with nothing. I left everything but my dog and some of my clothes behind in New York. At that point I didn’t care a hoot about possessions. I cared about freedom. Possessions have very little to do with happiness (I hope you realize). But, as luck would have it, in the pursuit of building up my life again I found a really fabulous apartment and decided to buy myself some stuff to put in it. And now I am going through much of what’s accumulated and throwing bits and pieces of it away… While sorting through matchboxes, Star Wars bobbleheads, business cards and random keys, I started missing music (I’ve found tons of great new music over the last few months). So I opened my computer’s iTunes and somehow a random song started playing. A sad song. A song I’d never heard before. Turns out it’s from a group of songs I was gifted a few months ago but had never listened to. I’d named the playlist “Irony”. Intrigued, I’ve kept listening. The music has a strange, leaden-soap-bubble weight attached to it (not good) with hints of starry nights and dark purple ponies (good good)… And irony. Can’t forget that. This is a photo I took of the only jewelry I wear (sometimes). Two rings. Thin gold chains. Normally I can’t stand jewelry because it feels constricting. But these are delicate and weightless. You can find them at www.catbirdnyc.com.

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His name is Wilbur. Practical, but a dreamer and restless by nature, he wanted more out of life than rural Vermont could offer. “LA or bust!” he chortled one morning and set out with just the bristles on his back. Along the way he had many adventures and encountered some very strange folk. The closer to California he drew, the odder the personages. Free lovers. Mystics. Sketchy mavens. On the border of Nevada and California he began to have doubts. “Whatever am I doing?!?!” My friend Marisa took this photo the morning of the Great Charlotte Tractor Festival while we were on a walk to visit the magic tree with the handprint in the bark.

]]> http://www.thingsithinkarecool.com/photos/move-on-wilbur/feed 0 http://www.thingsithinkarecool.com/photos/dead-pigeon http://www.thingsithinkarecool.com/photos/dead-pigeon#comments Fri, 17 Sep 2010 13:35:12 +0000 admin http://www.whyilovevermont.com/?p=1960

I bought an iPhone. Last Tuesday evening. It has a calendar. Which I needed. Yup, I bought a $400 iPhone for the calendar feature mainly. And the morning after I bought it, I dropped it in the sink with running water. Bad bad me. So I brought it back yesterday saying it had never worked… And they BELIEVED me and gave me a new one. Suckers : ) But seriously, all the salespeople I met at AT&T were really nice. I’m going to buy a really cool Japanese case for it with some neat design or something. This may be the most pointless thing I’ve ever posted… Fact is I’m procrastinating. Got too much work to do and am putting off unpleasant things… *sigh*. I wish I were a superhero. Was in Naples this summer with 2 friends and we decided we were and gave each other some great powers. I had many, including the ability to travel through space and time. But I’m not a superhero really. So, that’s why you get to see this lovely dead pigeon photo and read all about my iPhone.

]]> http://www.thingsithinkarecool.com/photos/dead-pigeon/feed 0 http://www.thingsithinkarecool.com/self/music http://www.thingsithinkarecool.com/self/music#comments Mon, 22 Mar 2010 02:30:01 +0000 admin http://www.whyilovevermont.com/?p=1929

Wow. It’s been forever since I last posted here. It’s been a long, hard winter, baby. Dark. Cold. Boring. I don’t remember having such a lackluster winter in a long time. But spring is springing. Clocks have been set ahead an hour. The temperatures were downright balmy over the last two weeks. Slowly taciturn, little Vermonters are creeping out of their dens, exposing their pasty white skin to the daylight. Things are looking up. One thing that’s been making a huge difference for me is that I’ve started seeking out and downloading new music again. Familiar music makes me feel braindead and depressed. When I listen to new music I can feel my brain expanding and growing new cells. New music works to elevate my mood and makes me feel smarter. Odd? I don’t know. But it really works for me. Have started my own music station on Blip FM. Am loving it. Check it out here. So many great new songs. Le Corps Mince de Françoise (pictured left) is one of the bands I’ve been listening to. They hail from Helsinki in Finland and have a clean, off-beat sound like orange snow.

]]> http://www.thingsithinkarecool.com/self/music/feed 0 http://www.thingsithinkarecool.com/self/diego-gravinese http://www.thingsithinkarecool.com/self/diego-gravinese#comments Sat, 16 Jan 2010 03:34:35 +0000 admin http://www.whyilovevermont.com/?p=1838

Diego Gravinese was born in La Plata, Argentina and currently lives in Buenos Aires, a place I was going to visit a few weeks ago. Buenos Aires is beautiful. So are Diego’s photo-realistic oil paintings. Check them out here.

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I was away from Vermont for a week and had THE BEST time. I really needed to get away. I was drowning in ennui. I guess, some people get comfort from doing the same things week in and week out. I’m beginning to realize that I am not one of those people. AT ALL. Or at the very least, I need lots of variety to challenge me and keep my brain moving and I’ve not been getting much of that for the last 4 months or so… Ugh. I think I might start a group on meetup.com for people to brainstorm ways to make Burlington more livable, vibrant and INTERESTING. Otherwise, I can’t imagine staying here for much longer. I NEED AMUSEMENT, PEOPLE. And my play-doh and coloring books aren’t cutting it any more… When I saw this drawing by Natalie Dee I burst out laughing.

]]> http://www.thingsithinkarecool.com/self/vermont-ennui/feed 1 http://www.thingsithinkarecool.com/photos/antibiotics http://www.thingsithinkarecool.com/photos/antibiotics#comments Sun, 06 Dec 2009 16:10:55 +0000 admin http://www.whyilovevermont.com/?p=1487

I’ve been sick for a week and it’s a real bummer. This is the 3rd time in about 3 months, which makes it worse. Luckily, no flu, just weird cold-like symptoms. I think the first time around it was allergies. The second time was definitely a cold, but I took lots of Zinc and Vitamin C, so it also wasn’t terrible. This time it seems to have turned into bronchitis, something I’m sorta prone to getting. One thing’s for sure, if I had been born in 1900, I would have died by the time I was 8… Anyway, I know that antibiotics are way over used, but it’s nice to know that if you really need them they are there. At this point, a week into this thing and not feeling any better, I’ve decided to use the Zithromax prescription the doctor gave me last Wednesday. I hope to be feeling better in a day or so.

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So, no. Cole Rise has not seen this blog… Not yet, anyway. But it seems other people have. And I’m having problems with it. Well, I’m ok with my close friends seeing this blog. After all, I’ve told them about it, I’ve sent them the URL. They better have fucking seen this blog. And I have no problem with complete strangers seeing it. Welcome, stranger. Welcome to my little domain. But, I’m not comfortable with people I don’t know well, but I do know a little, seeing it. Tonight Charles (Chuck?), who I’ve met 3xs, told me he’s been here. And I got all blushy. I think I responded, “No. No you haven’t.” I don’t know how to handle it when an “in between” person has seen it. So, if you kind of know me, but don’t really know me, you’re not allowed to read this. It’s just for strangers and close friends. Unless you’re Charles. Charles, you’re ok, because you’ve already been here, not that you will come back here, but if you do, it’s copacetic. : )

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